Sunday, May 24, 2015

Enfilade! Saturday Games

Images of only a smidgen of the games hosted on Saturday at Enfildae! here in Olympia, WA. I ran my Actium game again in the morning period - didn't take any photos as it was covered last night. The six players said they enjoyed the game - which ended in a slight victory of Antony and Cleopatra over Octavian. My third game was hosted during the evening - Arena Games' Gladiatorial Game. I had 9 players who seemed to really get the hang of the rules after the 3rd or 4th turn - I actually strolled away a bit of the time to take pictures of some of the other games.
Fireforce: Rhodesia '76 by Damond Crump, Bruce Smith and Lawrence Bateman, Force on Force (modified); Rhodesian Light Infantry and African Rifles make an early morning raid against a ZANLA camp on the Mozambique border. My fellow Hawaiian-expat Kimo and I got in on this game. It ended up being Best of Period as well as the theme award - Raids.
Battle of Yamazaki - Samurai Warfare in 10mm by Robert Knestrick, Historical Home Brew, 4 hrs, 10 players; Outnumbered Akechi makes his stand behind the Enmyoji River near the town of Yamazaki. Homebrew rules set up to be fun, fast but still historically challenging. 10mm grand scale with around 1,000 beautifully painted figures and nice terrain.
Rescue at the Pyramids by Scott Murphy, Sowrd and the Flame modified. The Germans have seized the ruined city in the highlands of Venus and have left a small party of soldiers and archaeologists, however the locals have other ideas. The Germans are sending a relief force to help hold the site but the British are also going to try and "rescue" the Germans.
Salems Church by Robert Sternberg, Black Powder 28mm, May 3, 1863. General Hooker with the Union VI Corps is driving the Confederates back towards Chancellorsville. At Salems Church the Confederates under Wilcox have been fighting a rearguard action. The Confederates have been reinforced and the fight is on.
Sioux Raids Along the Black Hills by Robert Sternberg, War Bonnet, The Sioux are raiding along the black hills defending their sacred land. With their sights set on a wagon train, homesteads and a miner’s camp. Can the 7th Cavalry under Lt Col Custer halt the loss of life or will the Sioux drive the trespassers from their lands?
Smoked Boulogne by Kevin Smyth, Lion Rampant, In 1340, England mounted a raid against the French port city of Boulogne. It was a nest of Pirates and Raiders who operated against the English coast. The successful attack burned ships and stores that made the Battle of Sluys a French disaster. The English players must raid the dockyards in the morning mist while overwhelming sailors and fighting off French relief.
Circus Maximus by Ken Cassady, Home Brew, Ride again in the greatest sport of all, chariot racing. Cheer your team on to victory and smash your foes to bits. Work together if you wish with other teams with secret deals to share in the winner’s takings. Those with extra cash can sabotage your opponent's team for an extra advantage. I am going to make the horse damage table a little more dangerous this season.
Battle for Aachen by Greg Moore, home-brewed, US infantry supported by tanks assault a section of the ruined city of Aachen in Germany in October of 1944. Battle fought in 1/72 scale using easy to learn home-made rules. Battlefield consists of a table full of hand-made ruined buildings. Germans must defend the rubble and prevent the Americans from capturing a key square in the city.
He-Man Masters of the Universe "Battle of Grayskull Temple" by Bruce Smith, Super Modified TSATF ,He-Man and Ram Man together with the Army of Good vs Skeletor, Beast Man, & Mer-Man along with the Army of Evil as they battle for control of the Temple of Grayskull.
Terror in the Depths by John McEwan, Terror in the Depths rules By John McEwan. What mysteries lie below the waves of the Haunted Sea? Will you join the fight on the muddy, dark ocean bottom? Search for lost treasure – sunken cities – ship wrecks, and perhaps find long forgotten races of sub-humans?
Battle at the Galaxy Star Casino by James McEwan, Starguard, Come and relive this exciting battle for the Galaxy Star Casino taken from James McEwan’s new book, Dimension Shift. Play as the Starguard Marines and see if you can defeat the Robot defenders and take control of the Casino. Or Play as the Robot defenders and see if you kick the Marines to the curb.
Forcing the Columbia by Sven Lugar, All Quiet on the Martian Front,  HG Wells War of the Worlds played out as Martians attempt to force their way across the Columbia from Portland to Government Island & into Vancouver. Defend our Native Soil or be a cold-blooded Martian. Riverboats help support the defense as reinforcements shuffle their way across the river to the forward base on Government Island to stop the Martians coming from the ruins of Portland.
My Gladiator game using Arena Games' Gladiatorial Combat. The nine players, including a youngster (about 10) and a lady-gamer, all had a wonderful time. It went on for 11 turns until a last man, er..Murmillo standing.
Ganging up on opponents is encouraged! As killed gladiators remain on the table - it was suggested I make some casualty figures. Well I did make some nets and spears to represent them thrown and not recovered. One thing which became evident was to attack heavy armored opponents to their rear or flank to decrease their chances at Save attempts.


Again, only a fraction of the total games being played on Saturday - Hopefully you like them.

21 comments:

  1. Looks like a good time was had by all Dean, the Rhodesia game looked particularly interesting, not often you see a de Havilland Vampire on a war-games table. Nice to see such a diversity of games on display, thought your Actium game looked interesting, what rules were you using?
    Regards HGA.

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    1. Thanks, HGA - they also had two Alouette helos, a C-47 (Dakota), and a Hawker Hunter. The Actium game used a modified version of Hail Caesar. Only one each of the players in both games new the rules before hand, yet everyone got in the rhythm by turn 3. Best, Dean

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  2. Looks like you had a great time and great Pictures!

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    1. Thank you very much - happy I got snap a few images. Regards, Dean

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  3. Many great looking games. I notice a high proportion of "home-brew" rules in use. Is that typical or simply an artifact of the games selected for photos?

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    1. Thanks, Jonathan. Yes, I would say most games are either home-brew or simplified-for-convention rules. Although there are always SAGA, DBA and FoW mini-tournaments also. But most participation games are the aforementioned types. The big Napoleonic game was using Shako II rules too. Regards, Dean

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  4. Thanks for taking pictures of this year's convention and running your Actium game. I've been on duty for the past few nights, but I hope to swing by this afternoon.

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    1. Thanks, Ted. I'll be gone by then, but there should still be the Lion Rampant games going on. Dean

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  5. He-Man table! Dammmmm that looks good

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    1. Lol! Figured you'd like that one, Simon. Bruce Smith always puts on spectacular, if not historical, games. :) Regards, Dean

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    1. Thanks; and again I only was able to get a fraction of the total games going on. Warm regards, Dean

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  7. Seems like a great convention, and a nice result for your two hosted games! Fun and fast playing rules with a short learning curve is really key, and the fact that you were able to sneak away while they gamed on, is a testament to those exact qualities.

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    1. Thanks, Soren. Indeed the two game were well-received. Interestingly all three of the games had youth and a women. The gladiator game had about a 10 year old who had a great time with no coaching needed after the 3rd turn. Oh, and take down/set up time is minimal with the mat being the "terrain" :) Warm regards, Dean

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  8. Great looking games. Your Gladiators gave me some ideas for the future...

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    1. Thank you very much. The gladiator game was really enjoyable, not only for the players, but for me too. The players were able to run the game themselves after the 2nd turn. Regards, Dean

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  9. Great looking games Dean! I really like the Circus Maximus game - I have Steve Barber 28mm quadrigae , the Roman racing chariots to paint.

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    1. That's another perennial favorite at Enfilade, yet one I've never played. Regards, Dean

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  10. Amazing tables Dean, seems to be so beautiful...Pyramids and Circus are my favorites!

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